Opening Titles
Nearly every episode of That '70s Show starts with the opening titles proceeding the teaser. Due to numerous cast changes throughout the series' run, the opening sequence has gone through several incarnations to accommodate them, most notably the last season. Season 1 The first season opening was of the song "In the Street," by Alex Chilton and Chris Bell of the band Big Star, sung by Todd Griffin. The lyrics were: Hanging out, down the street The same old thing, we did last week Not a thing to do, but talk to you Whoa yeah! The video accompanying the song was of the teenage main characters driving in Eric's car and lip-synching the theme song together as the credits would roll over the dashboard from under. The position of the passengers and driver would alternate every two lines. At the conclusion of the opening, a shot of a 1970s-style Wisconsin license plate (black letters/numbers on a yellow background) is shown with the year in which the episode was taking place in the bottom right corner. During this time, Danny Masterson yells "Hello, Wisconsin!" This table shows the following transitions. Season 2 The opening for the second season sparked notable changes from the first. Firstly, the theme from then on is performed by the band Cheap Trick and the last line of the song is replaced with the phrase "We're all all right!" which is repeated twice. Secondly, the adult characters are now featured in the opening video along with Lisa Robin Kelly who joins the main cast this season. The scene alterations now happen every one line. Season 3 Season 3 uses the opening from the previous season, until "Dine and Dash" when a totally new opening is used for the remainder of the season following the departure of Lisa Robin Kelly. In this version of the opening, there is a very slight transition during the lines Not a thing to do and But talk to you. The camera is also angled lower, making the front passengers' bodies less visible under the dashboard. In other versions, the Season 2 opening is still used for the entire season, only with Laurie digitally omitted, except for the segment where she's steering the wheel which is replaced with a clip of Red steering with Bob sitting in the front (this is the only time Red can be seen singing in the opening). In "Too Old to Trick or Treat, Too Young to Die", the opening had organ music accompanying the main theme and the credits were in a Halloween-style font. Season 4 The departure of Tanya Roberts after the third season and the addition of Tommy Chong to the main cast this season called for an entirely new opening, but still retaining the style from the previous two seasons. In "An Eric Forman Christmas", a Christmas themed-version of the theme song is used in the opening. Season 5–7 The opening at this point only witnessed minor alterations due to the departure of Tommy Chong (until his eventual return) from the main cast at the time he was sentenced to jail, but remained mostly unchanged. This version was used for the next two seasons onward. In "Christmas" and "Winter", the same music used for the opening of "An Eric Forman Christmas" is used here, along with the credits stylized in red, snowy letters and holly around the actors' names. In Winter, the bumper above the license plate is covered in snow. Season 8 The final season opening sees a major change from tradition. With the departure of Topher Grace and Ashton Kutcher from the series, the opening was reworked to feature close-up shots of each of the actors lip-syncing a line of the theme song as the camera rotated the circle to each cast member, each one mimicking one line as their name appears below. Red doesn't utter his line; he just looks at the camera and rolls his eyes. Tommy Chong originally performed the last line in "Bohemian Rhapsody" before the introduction of Josh Meyers in the next episode, leaving Chong with no line. In addition, Hello, Wisconsin!" innthe second version of the opening sequence is now played over Chong's segment instead of the liscense plate where Leo looks up in wonder. The final episode omits most of the opening sequence and instead only shows the license plate shot. But the Netflix version did include the opening sequence. There is a slight change starting from "Long Away" onwards when Kitty gets a haircut. "Bohemian Rhapsody" variant Episodes 2–21 Trivia *The order of the teenage cast members is done alphabetically by their surname. This is not done for the adults and additional cast members (Laurie, Leo and Randy). *The ending titles of both the first and last episode of series is a variation of the Seasons 1–7 openings with the titular six singing "Hello, It's Me" by Todd Rundgren. (the following information only pertains to the first 7 seasons) *Some recurring elements appear in every version of the opening titles: **During the line ''"not a thing to do", Donna would always place both hands on the dashboard. **Fez has a nervous look to him when he's the one behind the wheel. **Except for one version of the Season 3 titles, Red never sings. *The opening of the British spin-off series Days Like These is extremely similar with the six teenagers singing while driving Eric's car, only with more transitions, the theme song is "Days Like These" by Asia and the cast's voices are heard instead of them lip-synching. *Kitty, Kelso, Bob and Midge are the only characters to not drive the car. *Midge is the only character to never be seated in the front row. Bob is only in the front row for one segment in another version of the third season opening. *Kitty, Red and Leo are the only characters to never be seated in the back row. *Kitty and Red are never seated in the back row. Red is always the one steering the wheel whenever he appears. *The first and last segments always have Hyde, Donna and Eric in the front row with Jackie, Kelso and Fez in the back. In these parts, the front row always has Eric operating the wheel with Hyde to the left and Donna inbetween them. The order of the people in the back row do change until Season 3. *Eric operates the sheering wheel for the most individual segments in all versions than any other character. *Eric and Fez are the only characters to operate the steering wheel in all seasons the car opening is used. Red operates the wheel in every season since the second. Donna operates the wheel every season since the third. Jackie operates it starting from Season 5. Laurie operates it in Season 2 and the first half of Season 3. Hyde and Leo only do so in Seasons 3 and 4 respectively. *Kelso always wears a blue t-shirt, but not always the same one. Category:Style